The Financial Conduct Authority has stated that there was a decrease of 1.4% in the number of complaints made against financial services firms between July and December 2015 compared to the previous six months.
This was mainly driven by a 10% drop in complaints about current accounts and a 15% drop in complaints about savings accounts.
In total there were 2.11 million new complaints between July and December 2015.
When payment protection insurance (PPI) is excluded, the number of complaints between July and December 2015 is reduced to 1.17 million. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) remains the most complained about product, with complaints about PPI rising by 6% in the current period. Although current accounts saw one of the largest reductions in complaints numbers, they are still the second most complained about financial product in the period covered.
Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: “It is positive to see that the longer term reduction in the volume of complaints has continued into the latest period. Firms seem to have taken on board our previous feedback on levels of complaints and we are slowly seeing firms address these issues.
“However, firms still need to do all they can to reduce complaints and ensure that they are working in the best interests of consumers.”
The total redress paid to consumers fell to £1.97 billion between July and December 2015 which is slightly lower than the £1.98 billion paid between January and June 2015.
The fall in redress payments was mainly due to a 2% fall in payments related to general insurance and pure protection products, which includes PPI. This accounted for almost 82% of complaints redress payments.
Other product categories saw a reduction in redress payments between July and December 2015, except for banking and credit cards which increased by almost 27% and home finance which increased by 17%.
The top five firms for complaints over ‘home finance’ (mortgages and equity release products) are as follows:
- Bank of Scotland plc 11,606
- Santander UK Plc 7,331
- HSBC Bank Plc 6,296
- NRAM plc 6,107
- Barclays Bank Plc 5,740
The top five most complained about firms all saw a reduction in levels of complaints received between July and December 2015:
- Barclays Bank Plc – 279,561 (a decrease of 1% since 2015 H1)
- Lloyds Bank Plc – 230,041 (a decrease of 1% since 2015 H1)
- Bank of Scotland Plc – 182,702 (a decrease of 4% since 2015 H1)
- National Westminster Bank Plc – 135,262 (a decrease of 7% since 2015 H1)
- HSBC Bank Plc – 120,986 (a decrease of 14% since 2015 H1)
Terry Kaye, Nationwide’s divisional director for customer experience, said: “Nationwide has a relationship with one in four households in Britain, yet despite our size and scale we only account for 1.91% of industry complaints. As a mutual we are owned by and run for the benefit of our members. Without shareholders to satisfy we are able to put our customers at the heart of what we do.
“In the last FCA reporting period (H2 2015), Nationwide saw a 7.86% decrease in complaint figures compared to an industry decrease of 1.4%. In May 2015 the Society started its campaign for transparency and improved fairness in the credit card market. This activity appears to be resonating with our customers as credit card complaints are down 25.6% – the biggest decrease of any product area for the Society.
“Because we’re owned by our members, we believe in the personal touch. We lead the way on investing in new technology to make our customers’ lives easier. But we also recognise that technology can’t substitute for face-to-face time with another human being. Because of this approach, we have consistently been ranked first for customer service on the high street.
“These results show the value of offering competitive products backed up with a high-level of customer service.”